Facing head-on
No instrument of public policy – be it use of fiscal, monetary and public investments – will be spared to achieve higher growth.
New Delhi: The country has the “capability and ability” to sustain a growth rate of about 8 per cent and “will do so,” the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, said here on Friday.
Inaugurating the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, the Prime Minister said that no instrument of public policy – be it use of fiscal, monetary and public investments – will be spared to achieve higher growth.
The Reserve Bank of India, in its latest policy review, projected a GDP growth of 7.5-8 per cent in the current fiscal, while the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council has estimated that the growth will be in the region of 7 to 7.5 per cent.
Addressing the Summit, the Prime Minister pointed out that in an increasingly interdependent world almost every country is bound to feel some impact of the global meltdown.
He was, however, of the opinion that the country “can” and “will survive” the crisis and emerge stronger.
The Prime Minister said that the Government is also taking all steps to “minimise” the impact of the global meltdown on India. He added that the country can survive the global crisis if “we have the imagination, sense of unity and the will to work together as a united nation.”
Dr Singh said that anticipating a slowdown, the Government had taken several steps in the latest budget including a loan waiver to farmers and creating a safety net for the rural people through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
Dr Singh called on Indian industry to have “confidence” that the Government “knows its mind” and has the “resources and wisdom” to grapple with the current crisis.
The Prime Minister said that the Government was also aware of the problems being faced by small and medium enterprises and exporters and is reviewing the situation on a daily basis.
